Airport Bulldozing Update

Last updated 2/6/2018 at 9:27am

In our Jan. 25 issue, we reported that a bulldozer leveled a 20-acre circle within Gabriel Wisdom’s private land parcel adjacent to the airport for use as a landing zone by British-Canadian paratroopers in training.

Wisdom authorized landing on his property, but did not authorize any bulldozing.

Authorizing the bulldozing was Skydive Perris, the owner, Melanie Conatser, immediately took responsibility for what she termed a mistake caused by miscommunication between her company and the British officer in charge of the paratroop exercise.

Immediately after realizing the error, water was trucked in to wet down the site to mitigate against “dust events,” according to Wisdom, he said that the operation is continuing.

Additionally, he said, Skydive Perris has hired Kate Harper, “A highly respected botanist who has been doing research in the Borrego desert the past five years to make recommendations to quickly resolve this issue for everyone’s benefit.” Harper added, “We all care deeply for this community.”